


Of Tattoos And Textbooks

by rachelle (stevebuckyrach)



Series: Fluffy Meet-Cute AUs [7]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Meet-Cute, Nerd Steve, PUNK BUCKY, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, and an angry librarian, it's kinda a meet cute okay 'cause it's the first time they met, my babies fall in love, obviously, pining Bucky, sticky notes are involved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 11:47:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4745186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevebuckyrach/pseuds/rachelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I liked the prompt:</p><p>i always see you in the library and i think you’re really cute so i leave you little post it notes on your work whenever you go and get a book just to see you blush au.</p><p>But I changed it.. quite a bit.</p><p>I promise the fic is better than this description.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Tattoos And Textbooks

**Author's Note:**

> Sidenote: I spent longer trying to come up with a title than I did writing the fic.
> 
> (The book in the fic is called Of Mice and Men. Bucky's a punk.. tattoos. Steve's a nerd.. textbooks. Ha. I'll never be funny.)

Bucky Barnes was in love.

Bucky Barnes was in love with the gorgeous little blond guy with the massive black glasses and the fringe that fell in front of his eyes as he worked.

Bucky Barnes was in love with the adorable skinny blue-eyed boy with the habit of chewing his pens and biting at his nails as he concentrated on his work.

Bucky Barnes was fucked.

 

*****

 

Saying bye to his friends Clint and Natasha, Bucky stepped into the library for the first time since he started school there, and seeing as he was graduating in a couple of months, that pretty much summed up Bucky's work ethic.

It wasn't that Bucky didn't try hard or make an effort to get good results.. well yes, it was. He didn't particularly care about his education and scraped by doing the bare minimum amount of work that he could.

However, Bucky wasn't unintelligent at all and often achieved grades that matched several students who put all their time and effort into their school work. This meant that he could get away with his terrible attendance and never handing in his homework because the school only really cared about final exam grades. 

Walking into the library, Bucky rolled his eyes as he instantly received a glare from the old woman on the desk.

The reason he was even stepping foot into the library in the first place was so he could get a copy of the stupid book he had to read for English (because not even Bucky Barnes could pass a final without reading the book he had to write about) so Bucky really didn't need some elderly hag with anger issues judging him simply by his appearance.

And he was aware that his loud boots, super skinny jeans and leather jacket combined with his half-shaven head and tattoos covering his left arm could be slightly intimidating, but it didn't mean he was gonna fuck shit up in her library.

Bucky's ma had brought him up right; he may not have given two shits about school but he knew about respect, loyalty and the importance of looking out for other people. No one except his closest friends actually knew this however, as most people chose to believe he was a cocky douchebag with a massive ego and no remorse for others.

They weren't that far off for most of it, but one thing Bucky believed was that every single person deserved respect. Regardless of their colour, sexuality, style, size, gender identification, Bucky believed in equality for everyone and yes, he was a bit of a punk with his messed-up hair, his ear stretchers and his black _everything_ , but Bucky Barnes was a feminist and proud of it.

A few idiots called him gay in History class for saying he would have happily joined the suffragettes if they'd have let him. 

Bucky quickly retorted that believing in equal rights for women didn't make him gay, but rather the fact that he liked choking on cock did.

He got sent out of class.

 

*****

 

Grabbing the book, _Of Mice and Men_ , off the shelf, Bucky grimaced at the dust it left behind. He let out a sigh, putting his book onto the nearest table before dropping himself into the available seat. 

There weren't many people around, not many that Bucky particularly recognised anyway. He didn't really go out of his way to socialise with people outside of his group of friends and most people were too intimidated by him to spark up a conversation anyway. It was pretty ideal if he was being honest. 

However, when Bucky looked across the table, he kind of wished he'd learnt to socialise with random strangers.

The boy was, from what Bucky could tell, a nerd. The kind of nerd that did extra work out of choice and wore sweater vests and couldn't wait to go to a college that they'd probably chosen years prior to applying.

Bucky knew it didn't make even the slightest bit of sense but he could feel himself wanting to know more about the little blond guy. He'd seen him around school but he couldn't remember a single time they'd so much as made eye contact, let alone spoken.

The guy was concentrating on his text book, his eyes gazing purposefully at the page in front of him. The expression covering his face was adorable and Bucky wanted to tell him to stop squinting or he'll get wrinkles but the boy looked like the kind that wouldn't welcome distractions from his work.

After spending an hour or two reading his book and watching the little nerd (he'd only managed to read four pages and he couldn't recall a single thing that had been written), Bucky discarded _Of Mice and Men_ on the table and walked out of the library, ignoring the eyes that followed him.

 

*****

 

The next day, Bucky returned to the library, to pretty much everyone's surprise.

Seriously, Clint nearly choked on his lunch when Bucky had told him and Natasha that he was going back there.

"Who the fuck are you and what have you done with Barnes?!" Clint had sputtered, clearly in a state of shock.

Natasha however had simply raised her eyebrow, giving Bucky an _I know you're up to something but I'm not going to meddle_ look before following that with a small smirk which he knew to mean _...yet_. 

Bucky ignored them both, instead choosing to get up and walk to the library, tapping out a text to Natasha on the way.

**Don't even try.**

The library was pretty much empty again so he selected the book from the shelf and sat down at the same table. The skinny blond guy wasn't sitting there today and Bucky couldn't help but feel slightly let down.

However, not long later, Bucky looked up from his book to see a rather flustered boy, carrying a lot more textbooks than he can probably handle, staring at him. 

Grinning, Bucky nodded at the boy before looking down at his book, amused by the other boy's obvious cluelessness as to how to react to Bucky's presence.

"You gonna stand there all day, dollface? 'Cause some of us are trying to work." Bucky smirked, glancing up at the blushing boy, waving his book for emphasis.

The boy literally squeaked, rushing to sit down in his usual seat. This was the best day of Bucky's life. 

Later on, Bucky did the same thing as the previous day; he discarded his book on the desk and walked out.

 

*****

 

The next few days were the same routine, the little guy flushing persistently at the sight of Bucky sitting there, as if it continued to come as a massive shock to him that Bucky was in his presence. (He was probably being conceited as the ongoing shock was more likely due to the fact that Bucky was in the library or that Bucky could even read a book.)

However, when the next week came around, Bucky frowned as he walked up to the shelf, the book not in its usual place. Glancing over to the table, he raised an eyebrow, seeing the book where he left it yesterday.

He headed over to the desk, intrigued as he saw a bright yellow sticky note on the cover.

_Do you think this book teleports to the shelf every day?_

He couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face.

Bucky had been sitting opposite the blond boy for roughly a week at this point and even though they had barely said a single word to each other, Bucky had been observing him quite closely.

This meant that Bucky could pretty much guarantee that the other guy had written the note.

Going by the handwriting (a scribbled mess, clearly written by someone in a constant rush) and the fact that the complete dork covers all of his textbooks in sticky notes, Bucky was 100% certain. 

With a mischievous grin, Bucky pocketed the note, planning his retort. 

 

*****

 

"So who's the guy?" Natasha asked him as they walked into school together.

Bucky was wondering how long she would last before finally asking him and to be honest, he was impressed.

"Took ya long enough, pal."

With folded arms, she nudged her shoulder against his. "Shut up, shithead."

"Clint made you promise not to meddle didn't he?" Natasha laughed, nodding her head.

"But it's been a week and you _still_ haven't told me. You break my heart, James."

"There's nothing to tell," Bucky sighed, "But I'll keep you updated." 

Smirking, she rolled her eyes. "Whoever he is, talk to him. Playing games won't work and I know it's the tactic you always use because it protects you against rejection or whatev-"

"Natalia!" Bucky's eyes widened, an idea forming in his mind. "You're a fuckin' genius, princess." 

Natasha let out a deep sigh. "Later, Barnes."

Bucky didn't even notice as the girl walked off to her class, instead focusing on finalising his plan. 

 

*****

 

A few days later, Bucky wandered upstairs to their school library for his daily visit.

Bucky had chosen to ignore the sticky note message from earlier on in the week, instead continuing to leave the book on the table.  The little guy's annoyance was becoming increasingly apparent, much to Bucky's amusement.

Smirking, Bucky took his seat and opened the book, reading a few pages without interacting with the other boy.

Not long afterwards, Bucky heard the blond leave his seat and knew this was going to be his best chance. The library door opened and Bucky peered over the top of his page to watch the boy walk out of the room.

As the door closed, Bucky jumped into action, grabbing the packets of sticky notes he'd stolen earlier that day from the store cupboard in the English classroom.

Unwrapping the first pack, he laughed under his breath. This was genius.

A few minutes later, Bucky was back in his chair, as if he'd never moved. A broad smile spread across on his face as he looked at the other boy's belongings in front of him.

His laptop, his textbooks, his stationery, _everything_ he left behind was covered entirely, front and back, top and bottom, in bright yellow sticky notes.

Not a moment later, the boy walked back into the library. 

" _What.. the.. fuck?_ "

The librarian hushed angrily, throwing a disgusted look at Bucky as if he'd forced the flustered boy to curse in her library.

"What the fuck did you do?!" the blond hissed at Bucky.

Enjoying this way too much, Bucky simply shrugged his shoulders, trying desperately to contain his laughter.

The irritated boy grabbed the book from Bucky's hands and threw it onto the desk.

"Why do you have to be such an _asshole_?!", the boy whispered angrily. 

Bucky bit his bottom lip, a smirk growing on his face. "Because you're cute when you're angry, dollface." 

"Don't call me cute when I wanna punch your head off your fuckin' shoulders."

Laughing, Bucky rolled his eyes, "But if I had no head then I couldn't do this."

Confusion grew on the other boy's face but before he could even process what was going on, Bucky stood up to join their lips together, kissing the blond boy like he had wanted to since the first time he'd laid his eyes on him.

Instead of pushing him away like Bucky had expected, the other boy ran his fingers through the back of Bucky's hair, kissing him back like it was his dying wish.

It took the librarian clearing her throat four times before their mouths parted.

"I hate you so much." 

"I'm Bucky."

"I'm Steve and I hate you so much." 

Bucky couldn't help the smile that grew on his face, "I think that's a lie, Stevie." 

"God, you're such an asshole." Steve pushed Bucky away from him, "You have a stupid name and stupid hair and a stupid _jawline_ and I hate you."

"I think you like my name, I think you like my hair, I think you particularly like my jawline," Bucky smiled smugly, "And I think you like me." 

Steve grabbed the front of Bucky's shirt to pull him closer, before connecting their lips again, slightly less heatedly than the previous time. 

Smiling against Steve's lips, Bucky wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist, the kiss slowly becoming more gentle and affectionate.

"I think I like you, too. And your jawline." Steve mumbled, pulling away from the kiss to see Bucky's reaction. 

" _I FUCKIN' KNEW YOU_ -"

 

The detention was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry it took...almost a year to update this series. I'm fully aware that I'm the worst!
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated, let me know if you have any requests, I promise it won't take 9 months this time!!
> 
> -Rach xo


End file.
